A highly successful Publicity Workshop was held at Birmingham New Meeting on Saturday 20th June. It was well supported, with 24 members attending from 13 MUA Congregations. The Workshop was led by Sue Woolley, the MUA District Facilitator, using a laptop and projector to give a very professional presentation using PowerPoint slides. Sue started the proceedings by inviting everyone to respond when meeting a stranger in a lift who spots the chalice badge and asks ‘What are Unitarians?” The day was then divided into four sessions. The two morning sessions were led by Sue: 1) Publicity using people and buildings and 2) Producing a Newsletter. The first dealt with how to help visitors find your chapel, and then ensuring that it is attractive and welcoming. The second emphasised the importance of each congregation having a Newsletter both for the members and for informing visitors. Aspects of content, design, production and distribution were then discussed. The first afternoon Session 3) External Publicity was led by Guest Speaker Jim Corrigall who as well as being a member of the GA Executive Committee, is also a professional journalist. He explained how to write News Articles and Press Releases, the effective use of photographs and how to give a radio interview. The final session 4) Building & maintaining a website was again led by Sue who explained how to design and construct an effective congregational website designed to attract new members, and emphasized the importance of regularly updating it to maintain its impact.
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